Silver loves to swim and dreams of one day becoming a mermaid. There's only one problem: Her dad can't swim! 

From the bath to the pool and the beach, Silver's always been a water baby. 

She looks like a mermaid, swims like a fish, and even sleeps under the sea. 

Silver and her dad bake mermaid-tail cupcakes, build mermaid caves, and read underwater stories, but he can't join her in the pool like other dads. Silver would rather give up on her mer-mazing dreams than swim away without her dad. But what if she doesn't have to? 

This joyful story celebrates swimming and empowers little dreamers to pursue their passions.

A long-overdue corrective to the history of rock ‘n’ roll and alternative music, repopulating it with the extraordinary Black artists and influential figures who steered its course, from an author, journalist, and front woman of the British post punk band Big Joanie.

The history of rock and roll and alternative music is often told in bold, sweeping, isolated moments that are removed from the context of their time. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the stories we tell center primarily on the achievements of white men like Elvis Presley, The Ramones, Nirvana, and David Bowie. White men who were the stars, white men who supposedly changed the game, white men who seemingly were at the forefront of every musical innovation in the 20th and 21st centuries. These rock and roll retellings perpetuate the belief that white men were the most important people to wield a guitar, strut on stage, or pound out a pummeling drumbeat. What is missing in these stories is everything in between—the people, the places, and the scenes that connect the dots—and you can’t tell the history of any music scene, let alone alternative music, without the Black community.

From the genre's earliest moments, Black musicians—like gospel entertainer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1930s-40s and rock and roll legend Chuck Berry in the 1950s—have consistently pushed musical boundaries that forever impacted the music that followed. Throughout the decades, numerous Black entertainers continued to add their take on rock and alternative genres, expanding and building on what was already there to create what we know as alternative music today: look no further than the electric fire of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar licks in the '60s, the kaleidoscopic melee of hardcore and reggae that was Bad Brains in the late '70s, and the funkadelic swagger of Living Colour in the '80s.

Despite their groundbreaking contributions, why have Black musicians been so neglected from the historical canon? Is alternative music still seen as a white genre, and how are Black musicians and fans making space for themselves in the music scenes they love? We Were Here tells the story of Black artists performing in alternative genres from punk to rock and roll, indie to new wave, alongside their Black fans. Through brand new interviews and meticulous research, Phillips documents the history of Black people’s influence on these genres, highlighting the key players, assessing the legacy of their work, and drawing attention to those who have been obscured from history.

Where rock magazines and music books previously omitted or misunderstood the stories of Black artists and fans, this book centers their voices and attempts to right the wrongs of the past. Along the way, Phillips infuses her own coming-of-age story as a Black female musician in the punk scene, alongside a cultural analysis of rock and alternative music history.

From the author of the acclaimed Invisible Generals comes the unsung history of the first Black US senators—two men who overcame fierce resistance to help America forge a multiracial democracy.

In 1870—a mere five years after the Civil War ended—Hiram Revels became the first Black US senator sworn into office. Abolitionist Wendell Phillips proclaimed him “the Fifteenth Amendment in flesh and blood.” During his tenure, Revels would fight for civil rights, public education, and birthright citizenship. Blanche K. Bruce followed in Revels’s footsteps, introducing pivotal legislation to secure back pay for Black veterans and promoting infrastructure projects to help reunite the North and South. Bruce would go on to become the register of the treasury, the first Black American to have his signature appear on US currency.

Revels and Bruce faced fierce opposition from within both major political parties, and the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws further eroded Blacks’ momentum. When Bruce’s term ended, there wouldn’t be another Black US senator for eighty-six years. A systematic campaign of diminishment reduced the accomplishments of Revels, Bruce, and their Reconstruction-era peers to the point of obscurity.

Invisible Senators is a surprising, clear-eyed, and inspiring tribute that restores Revels and Bruce to their rightful place in US history. Their powerful story compels us to reflect on the progress they made and to recognize the ongoing struggles for justice in America—moving us to continue building the inclusive democracy that they began.

A riveting, kaleidoscopic portrait of the American compulsion toward cruelty and our power to subvert it from an award-winning contributor to The Guardian and The New York Times.

In How to Look Away, Daniel Peña explores how fringe elements of his Texas childhood—AM radio, conspiracy theories, Post-Cold War paranoia—came to dominate the American political discourse and contributed to our extreme tolerance of human rights abuses against migrants from Latin America and elsewhere. He asks: What compels us to look away from these abuses? And how do we wake ourselves into action?

These evocative essays braid journalism, cultural criticism, and memoir, roaming from the vestigial Comanche War battlefields of his native Austin, to the black markets of Mexico City, to the home of a cartel hitman’s family doomed to live in the unglamorous aftermath of his crimes. Writing from both Mexico and the United States, Daniel Peña reflects on two childhood fears: demons and the death penalty. Or the answer to the question, “Do you ever really belong to yourself?” A question that serves as the looking glass through which Peña meditates on American citizenship and the kinds of people we are willing to disappear in the name of the American project.

How to Look Away conjures disquiet and longing beside clarity and hope as it offers a haunting account of the strange bond between two nations, this American moment, and the land upon which our bodies stand.

A radically vulnerable and virtuosic inquiry into the pursuit of freedom and the interminable nature of struggle, from the award-winning author of What We Lose

Weaving personal reflections with piercing insight and expansive vision across nine brilliant essays, Zinzi Clemmons explores the complexities of the elusive concept of freedom. As the daughter of a South African mother and a Trinidadian America father, she recounts growing up in the largely white, affluent town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania—and her frequent travels to Johannesburg, where the lofty promise of freedom was all around her. Coming of age amidst the euphoria of South Africa's first all-race elections, she grapples with the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the shattered hope in the wake of the Obama era. Clemmons critiques the entrenched inequalities that haunt both countries, from the tragic loss of a childhood friend to the violence that often befalls women who have the audacity to be free.

In a deft mix of memoir, family history, criticism, and reportage, drawing on a vast range of material from Joan Didion to James Baldwin, political analysis and history to Clemmons’s own experiences across the globe, Freedom is an incendiary exploration of race, sex, class, and inheritance. In elegiac prose, Clemmons trains her discerning eye on American institutions and mythologies, probing the bounds of liberation and autonomy to interrogate our most enduring quest—the relentless pursuit of freedom for all.

*Paperback Release Date - 2/16/2027*

A radiant, highly anticipated debut from the Well–Read Black Girl Books series, delving into the secret lives of three women on the eve of Eritrean independence.

The year is 1991. Eritrea is on the verge of liberation from Ethiopian rule and in Washington, D.C.’s tight-knit Eritrean community, change is in the air. Thirteen-year-old Lydia and her family are grappling with what peace after decades of war might mean for their future, just as they welcome Berekhet―a distant cousin newly arrived from Ethiopia to attend medical school in the States. With him comes a barrage of new ideas Lydia must confront for the first time, about the stories of nationhood and family she was raised on.

Meanwhile her mother, Elsa, a former rebel fighter, and the family matriarch, Mama Zewdi, must grapple with regrets long buried in the time their country has been at war. Elsa’s path from Eritrea to D.C. was paved with courage and loss, and figures from her past on the front lines of battle begin to resurface. Mama Zewdi, who runs a successful injera business out of her apartment, finds herself reexamining her place in their little family for the first time, while Lydia, emboldened by Berekhet, becomes committed to uncovering the secrets of her and her mother’s past―including the truth about her father, who was martyred in the war.

A loving ode to an immigrant community on the cusp of a new age, I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For boldly asks: How does our past define our present? And what stories must we let go of to be truly free?

Here is plant-based Africa: more than 70 healthy and authentic recipes from 13 different African countries, including the author’s own home country of the Ivory Coast.

An authentically African and naturally vegan culinary journey across the continent 
 
Drawing from the cultures and traditions of more than 15 countries, years of cooking expertise, and cherished memories from her own childhood on the Ivory Coast, Marie Kacouchia takes us on a tour of flavorful, healthy, naturally plant-based African dishes. Explore over 70 irresistible recipes for main courses, rice dishes, sauces, snacks, desserts, and drinks, including: 

• Peanut Hummus
• Cassava Tabbouleh with Radishes and Herbs
• Yassa Burger
• Paprika-Spiced Plantain Chips
• Sweet Potato and Ginger Loaf
• Coconut Rice Pudding
• Lemongrass Lemonade, and so much more! 

*Paperback Release Date - 1/25/2028*

The award-winning co-anchor of PBS NewsHour presents a sweeping and insightful retrospective on the history of Black comedy in America.

Black comedians have long played a pivotal role in shaping the American sense of humor. The 1990s showcased a golden era for Black comedy, highlighted by the surge of iconic sitcoms that redefined television and left a lasting cultural imprint. Shows like In Living Color, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Living Single, Martin, and A Different World stood on the shoulders of decades of groundbreaking work by Black comedians, both on-screen and on-stage, to deliver nuanced portrayals of life, family, and culture. Yet, just decades earlier, the idea of Black artists dominating American airwaves with characters that were both hilarious and heartfelt would have been unimaginable. How did it come to be?

The journey begins with 19th-century minstrel shows – offensive by today’s standards but the first stage for Black performers to reach mainstream audiences. Over time, comedians challenged racial stereotypes, exploring race and identity through humor. Icons like Jackie “Moms” Mabley, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, and Eddie Murphy shifted perceptions and changed how the nation understood itself. In this incisive history, Geoff Bennett tells the story of how they did it.

In Black Out Loud, Bennett chronicles the transformative history of Black comedy in America, drawing on research and interviews with the actors and executives behind some of the most impactful shows. This brilliant exploration traces the evolution of Black comics and provocateurs who reshaped the culture and ultimately became powerful agents of social change -- transforming the way America laughed along the way.

Includes interviews and insights from: Martin Lawrence, Robert Townsend, Debbie Allen, Tisha Campbell, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Quinta Brunson, Arsenio Hall, and many more!

Hailed by The New York Times as the godfather of breakdancing, Colón, founder and president of the legendary Rock Steady Crew, takes readers through a fifty-year celebration of B-boy culture and its role in the golden age of hip-hop.

Breakdancing, or breaking—one of the Three Pillars of Hip-Hop that emerged from the Bronx in the 1970s (alongside music and graffiti)—is the least represented component of the culture. The Rock Steady Crew is the most important collective of dancers in breaking’s over five-decade history, responsible for hundreds of moves and credited with popularizing breakdancing in the United States and worldwide.

Featuring a treasure trove of never-before-published images, this book places the vibe, fashion, and energy of golden-age breakdancing front and center. Readers will experience what it’s like to sit with Crazy Legs as he shares untold stories, accompanied by rare photos from his personal albums and archives. The book offers an insider’s look at the early life of one of the world’s most iconic B-boys and his crew—including Frosty Freeze, Ken Swift, Mr. Freeze, Devious Doze, Buck 4, Kuriaki, Baby Love, and more—as they brought breaking to the world.

Fans will also glimpse historic hip-hop tours of the 1980s, including The Kitchen Tour (US and Canada, 1981), the first-ever Wild Style tour (Japan, 1983), and Rock Steady Crew’s record tour (Europe, 1984)—tours that laid the foundation for a global cultural phenomenon.

Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark goes full length for the first time in his dazzling debut novel

A 2021 NEIBA Book Award Finalist!

Forty years ago in Egypt, the mystic and inventor Al-Jahiz pierced the veil between realms, sending magic into the world before he vanished into the unknown.

Now in 1912 Cairo, humans brush elbows with djinn in crowded tramcars and airships sail the skies. In this new world the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities maintains an uneasy peace. When someone claiming to be Al-Jahiz "returned" murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to his legacy, however, that peace dissolves into disarray.

The Ministry’s youngest agent, Fatma el-Sha’arawi, has saved the world before. But this case is a special challenge. The imposter's dangerous magical abilities and revolutionary message threaten to tear apart the fabric of this new Egyptian society, and spill over onto the global stage. Can Agent Fatma unravel the mystery of Al-Jahiz in time to save the world—again?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Angela Garbes has given us the definitive explanation for something we all share: the sense that something is not right about our society’s treatment of parenting. Essential Labor is a beautifully written, painstakingly researched, and courageously personal book. Garbes reveals the way systems exploit caregiving and shows us how the essential work of mothering can fix not just family life, but society. A timely and unforgettable book.”—Heather McGhee, New York Times bestselling author of The Sum of Us

From the acclaimed author of Like a Mother comes a reflection on the state of caregiving in America, and an exploration of mothering as a means of social change.

The Covid-19 pandemic shed fresh light on a long-overlooked truth: mothering is among the only essential work humans do. In response to the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers—and the lack of a social safety net to support them—writer Angela Garbes found herself pondering a vital question: How, under our current circumstances that leave us lonely, exhausted, and financially strained, might we demand more from American family life? 

In Essential Labor, Garbes explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be. A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family's complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color. 

Garbes contends that while the labor of raising children is devalued in America, the act of mothering offers the radical potential to create a more equitable society. In Essential Labor, Garbes reframes the physically and mentally draining work of meeting a child's bodily and emotional needs as opportunities to find meaning, to nurture a deeper sense of self, pleasure, and belonging. This is highly skilled labor, work that impacts society at its most foundational level.

Part galvanizing manifesto, part poignant narrative, Essential Labor is a beautifully rendered reflection on care that reminds us of the irrefutable power and beauty of mothering.